STEVIE WONDER - IN SQUARE CIRCLE

Released on September 13, 1985, via Tamla/Motown, In Square Circle is Stevie Wonder’s twentieth studio album and his first since 1980’s Hotter Than July  . It seamlessly fuses synthesizer-driven 1980s pop with Stevie’s signature soul, funk, and R&B influences. The album features blockbuster hits like “Part‑Time Lover” (a quadruple-chart No. 1), “Go Home,” and the lush ballad “Overjoyed”  . While critics noted some uneven tracks, most agree it’s Stevie’s last standout album, blending modern production with timeless songwriting  .

🎵 

Tracklist (Vinyl)

Side A

• Part‑Time Lover

• I Love You Too Much

• Whereabouts

• Stranger On the Shore of Love

• Never in Your Sun

Side B

6. Spiritual Walkers

7. Land of La La

8. Go Home

9. Overjoyed

10. It’s Wrong (Apartheid) (CD bonus track — often excluded on LP editions)

💿 

Vinyl Notes

• The album runs approximately 45 minutes—ideal for a clean, warm analog sound.

• Songs like “Part‑Time Lover”, featuring Luther Vandross on backing vocals, reinvented the Motown sound for the 1980s and ruled multiple Billboard charts  .

• Deep cut “Overjoyed” remains an enduring classic, known for its environmental percussion (crickets, bird sounds) and stirring quiet‑storm vibe